Who’s exempt from Utah’s travel declaration, and what does it mean?

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah (ABC4 News) – If you are entering the state of Utah via car or plane, officials are now asking you to fill out a self, travel declaration – which will be sent to your cell phone – but some are exempt from filling it out.

During Friday’s media briefing, Commissioner Jess Anderson said those exempt from filling out the online form include commercial airline employees, truck drivers, public safety officials, active military, health care providers and those who live across state lines and travel into Utah regularly for work.

Anderson continued to say if a person is exempt, they will still receive a notification on their phone to fill out the form. However, they do not need to, unless they have signs or symptoms of COVID-19.

Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) and Utah Department of Emergency Management (UDEM) are backing this request from Governor Gary Herbert and explain how the self-declaration works.

“People who enter the area that has been geo-targeted will – if it works the way it’s supposed to – will receive that alert and we’re very confident in the technology,” said Joe Dougherty, with UDEM.

Dougherty continues to say a person’s cell phone is not being tracked, however, a person’s cell phone sends signals to local cell phone towers, which then allows the government to send a text message alert to a phone, asking the phone’s user to fill out the form.

“As far as the data that’s collected on the form, that data will be collected and given in a secure fashion to the Utah Department of Health so that they can track that and trace any movement of someone who has coronavirus in the state,” Dougherty said.

John Gleason with UDOT said this action is important in “tracing, informing and isolating.”

“In the event of someone who enters the state becomes infected with COVID-19, this information – this critical information – their self-declaration will allow the Utah Department of Health to work with the airlines and other parties to more quickly and effectively trace and identify those who may have come in contact with this individual,” Gleason said.

Now, officials said this self-declaration is voluntary, however, they are asking the public to comply and fill it out.

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